Welcome !
Welcome to this on-demand MOOC “In the footsteps of Zika… approaching the unknown”.
This MOOC has been produced by Université de Genève (www.unige.ch), Institut Pasteur (www.pasteur.fr), Université Paris Descartes (www.parisdescartes.fr) and Centre Virchow-Villermé (virchowvillerme.eu).
With the help of the intervention of faculty members and international experts, we will explore together the recent Zika phenomenon, a previously rare benign virus that recently turned unexpectedly into the limelight when on the 1st of February 2016 it was declared by the WHO as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
As this outbreak is still ongoing and under close investigation, this MOOC has the opportunity to be an open learning experience that will follow the marked developments and new discoveries over time. This MOOC will bring you to the heart of the Zika outbreak and invite you to this adventure in uncharted territories.
Moreover, we invite you to join the interactive dialogue among participants and facilitators through a community of practice, which promotes questions, critical thinking, participatory learning, as well as interrelated and ongoing collaborative information.
Let us learn hand in hand all together to go further in finding clues and eventually solutions!
Course description
This interdisciplinary course is divided into 8 modules available in 4 languages (subtitles in English, French, Portuguese, Spanish).
Each module is organized around a central topic that will help those who take the course to develop their skills and knowledge. Each module provides
- interviews with specialists
- quizes
- recommended readings
- online videos and web links.
This MOOC will cover a range of topics, such as epidemiology, historical and geographical dispersion of the virus and its vectors through globalization and climate change, its modes of transmission, but also the symptoms, diagnosis and treatment. The different types of preventive measures will be also covered.
A special module will focus on possible neurological adverse effects such as the risk for birth defects (microcephaly) in pregnant women, while another one will examine the peripheral nerve paralysis called the Guillain-Barré syndrome.
The fact that Zika presents a significant threat to political and economic stabilities and thus reinforces social inequity through South America will be addressed.
The revolution in cultural, religious, and legal norms in front of the expansion of Zika will be also debated.
Finally, the last two modules will state the role, recommendations and response measures of policy makers and public health organizations under the light of medias.

À partir de la leçon

Zika and neurological adverses effects

This module addresses what is known and what is unknown about the neurological adverse effects of Zika virus, especially based on observations and research studies carried out in French Polynesia and in Brazil. In this module you will gain knowledge about the association between Zika infection in mothers and microcephaly in foetus in Brazil as well as the increased Guillain-Barré Syndrome in adults during the Zika outbreak in French Polynesia in 2013-2014. Prof. Olivier Picone, gynecologist-obstetrician, will explain the mechanisms of Zika infection and its health consequences. Dr. Patricia Jungmann will present us the race against time to understand the increased of microcephaly cases in Northeastern Brazil at the beginning of the outbreak and how doctors and scientists worked hand in hand to find clues to better understand the phenomenon. You will learn how the fear of microcephaly is becoming a nightmare for pregnant Brazilian women or those who would like to fall pregnant with Prof. Aluisio Cotrim Segurado and Prof. Laura Rodrigues. Prof. Tom Solomon and Prof. Arnaud Fontanet will close the module with the neurological effects of Zika in adults, notably regarding the Guillain-Barré syndrome that recently occurred in many infected cases in French Polynesia.

Rencontrer les enseignants

Antoine Flahault

Professor of Public Health and Director of the Institute of Global Health (Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva) and co-Director of Centre Virchow-Villermé (Université Paris Descartes)University of Geneva and Université Paris Descartes – Sorbonne Paris Cité